Leering to a Man
by ShadowChik
Summary: They are both wanted and envied. Angelina, Alicia, and Katie are the three nearly fearless Gryffindor chasers. United together under a male dominated sport, they have a friendship that almost nothing could break.
1. Chapter 1

Alicia's sunglasses said it all.

"Hangover, dear?" Katie asked nonchalantly, as she helped herself to a small stack of pancakes. "You just cannot hold your liquor." She reached around Lee, seconds away from falling back asleep, to grab the butter dish off of the table.

Angelina smirked, leaning into Alicia and removing the sunglasses from their perch on her nose. "I told you not to go drinking with him. These are mine." Alicia groaned, shutting her eyes. " 's too bright," she moaned piteously.

"You're just not used to it. Drink some coffee, it will get better in a moments' time. Fred, pass the syrup," Katie motioned with her butter knife, jabbing it towards him. Fred drew his wand with an evil grin before Katie thrust her knife towards him again. "No! No, Fred! Just slide it."

As Fred looked ready to give the syrup bottle a hearty shove, Angelina turned her attention back to Alicia. "So when did you come back in last night, anyway?" She inspected an orange and began to peel it without really paying attention.

They all looked up, curious. Even Lee seemed to pull up his head a fraction of an inch. Alicia blushed a pretty red and mumbled something into her coffee mug. "What was that?" Angelina asked, still focused thoroughly on her orange.

"I-," Alicia drew in a deep breath. "I fell asleep on the couch in the common room over the potions homework." Angelina looked up and raised an eyebrow. Small grins passed over the twins' faces. Lee's eyes opened for a moment and he tilted his head a bit to the side, dreadlocks swinging.

"You went drinking with Stephen, and fell asleep in the common room over your homework," Angelina repeated slowly, separating the orange slices and raising one thoughtfully to her mouth. Alicia looked ashamed, eyes even with the table top.

A forkful of pancakes had paused halfway to Katie's mouth, a stunned expression clearly readable on her face. The fork fell with a clatter as Katie rested her head in her palms. "Oh, Alicia. You've been dating him for, what, a year? You two are practically…practically _married_!" She sighed this in a disappointed voice. "And you don't even--"

Alicia put her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. "Not now, Katie. I don't need this lecture. Just because you--"

Angelina cut in wisely. "Now girls. Don't say things that you'll regret later. In fact, you both should just avoid the subject." Speech done, she busily went back to working on her orange.

Katie's eyes glinted over the table. "Sorry Alicia. My fault. I forgot that I was talking to the school's biggest prude." She picked her fork back up. "My mistake," she added, stabbing her pancake.

Alicia smiled, but the corners of her eyes didn't wrinkle as they usually did. "No worries, Katie. Just remember that we're not all as easy as you." She sipped her coffee peaceably.

Katie shot back a smile, and they both dissolved into giggles. Angelina rolled her eyes, but couldn't help grinning a bit around her orange. Fred and George exchanged a look, and Lee suddenly sat up stock-still and eyed someone from across the room.

"Heads, everybody," Lee snapped, much more awake than before. The twins turned to look, curiosity peaked. At once and as one, their eyes narrowed and their shoulders squared. "Damn," Katie muttered, not having to turn around to see. "It's Montague." Angelina cursed under her breath, and Alicia's face turned an odd color of green, but neither turned to see.

It was as if he heard them talking about him. Montague, followed by a few no-name Slytherin cronies, looked straight at the table. Grin more evil than any Weasley could even dream of, he sidled up to the Gryffindor table.

"Well if it isn't the Gryffindor quidditch team. And you," Montague lifted his chin disgustedly in Lee's direction. The tag-alongs chuckled as if this was a show of wit.

"Yeah, me. Have a problem with it?" Lee stood. Taller than the twins and almost as broad, Montague was small and frail in comparison. The threat didn't faze him, though.

He let his icy gaze travel across the three girls, lingering on each of them for more time than necessary. "And how are the lovely chasers today?" He smirked. "Spinnet, how about a roll in the sack?"

Alicia's back stiffened, but she didn't turn to look at him as she replied coolly, "How about just the sack, Montague? We could shove your head in it. Save all those little first-years some nightmares."

Montague winced for effect. "Ow. You've got some teeth. More than I expected out of you, Spinnet. Anything from the rest of you? Johnson? Bell?".

"Only a request, Montague," Angelina told him, just loud enough for him to hear. "Go jump into the lake and do all of us a favor, huh?" She hadn't moved, just took a thoughtful bite of her orange.

Katie made a degrading comment about a certain part of his anatomy and calmly sipped from her mug.

Montague ignored Angelina and, instead, leaned across the table. Coming nose-to-nose with Katie, he leered at her. "You would know Bell, wouldn't you?" His fellow quidditch team members chuckled behind him; one slapped his shoulder in appreciation.

Angelina hooked her arm around Fred's neck to stop him from moving. George half-rose out of his seat and Lee narrowed his eyes. ("You're right in front of the staff table!", Alicia hissed, stomping Lee's foot underneath the table.)

Katie didn't flinch, just gave him a simpering smile. "Would I?" Montague didn't have time to respond before rough hands grabbed him by the collar and dragged him off of the Gryffindor table. His followers drew their wands.

"Have a problem with my girlfriend, Montague?" A burly Hufflepuff asked, pulling Montague up so that they could see eye to eye. "If so, you've got a problem with me." Alicia and Angelina even managed to turn around a bit to watch as Alexander Martin 'escorted' Montague into the hallway for a 'chat'.

Katie watched the altercation though the windows across the room and took an unladylike gulp from her orange juice. "I'm chucking him." She told the table decidedly and idly, as the group cooled down.

"All right then." Angelina nodded her approval, lifting her arm off of Fred. "Sorry", she whispered to him, shrugging.

Although her other friend had just taken this in stride, Alicia gasped, making Lee jump. "No, Katie! You can't! He's just hit Montague for you!" Forgetting about her hangover, she jumped out of her seat. "I won't let you!"

Katie calmly put her fork down and pushed her plate away. Mumbling, "Bloody romantics. Don't know how you ever get things done.", before looking up at Alicia. "Fred, George and Lee turned that Ravenclaw's hair pink on favor for me. But I didn't date any of _them_."

The three boys smiled wistfully, before Angelina raised an eyebrow at Katie. "I think that's a bit different."

Katie scowled. "Now listen here. Since when do you two decide what I do with my time, anyway?"

"Since you started dating through every boy here!" Alicia cried, exasperated. Angelina just shrugged again, flicking a finger against her glass.

A stubborn look crossed Katie's face. "Now listen here! I'm just…efficient, is all! Nothing wrong with being efficient." She watched as Alexander strode through the doors of the Great Hall and closed in on the Gryffindor table. "It doesn't matter what you say anyways. I'm already considering it done."

"Alright, Babe?" Alexander asked, straightening the cuff of his school shirt. Katie gave him an idolizing smile, as if he was the only one in the world.

"Thanks to you." He smiled. "Alex, can we talk?" Alexander straightened his back as Katie walked around the table and hooked her elbow around his arm. Escorting him to the back of the great hall, she dropped her arm.

"Nice of him to ask after us," Angelina said thoughtfully, finishing her orange.

Alicia waved her off. "I want to watch!" she rose from her seat and leaned across the table for a better view of the couple. Angelina batted her down, muttering something about privacy, but once again Alicia waved her off.

"I'm studying her. She's fantastic at it, really. Amazing! It only took about a minute!"

Surely enough, Katie was sashaying back to the Gryffindor table, carefree look on her face. Flinging an arm about each of the twins, she snuggled in between them. "That, dears, is how it is done."

Face dropped and looking on the edge of tears, Alexander Martin stood by the doors of the Great Hall. Needless to say, his shoulders and back were straight no more.

"Next conquest?" Angelina asked nonchalantly, pushing her plate from her.

Fred shrugged Katie off as she took her time considering this. Throwing another arm around George, she leaned the side of her head against his, her hawk-like eyes searching the Great Hall for her next victim.

"Rodger Davies." Katie finally said, quite sure of herself.

Lee gave her an amused look and Alicia gasped. "Not Rodger Davies! Katie! Angelina, talk her out of it!"

Angelina flicked her thumb against her glass once more and considered this. "Well. Depends. Can you get his playbook, Kate?"

Katie rolled her eyes, and gave George a friendly peck on the cheek as she lifted her arms off of him and wiggled into her own seat. "Kid stuff, Angelina. It's only a matter of getting into his dormitory. Which is no problem."

Angelina grinned in approval and Alicia gasped once more, loudly this time. "Katie, you wouldn't! Angelina! Katie! You…you…Conniving bitches!"

"Don't you want to win this year, Alicia?" Angelina prodded, and Alicia's eyes flickered from person to person.

"Oh…You…" She fisted her hands on her hips and rose from the table. "You two are of such substandard moral character!"

Katie and Angelina rose in response. "Didja hear that, Angelina?" Katie jeered. "We are of 'such substandard moral character'."

"Broke my heart!" Angelina chimed in as a reply, pretending to faint dead away into Fred's arms.

"You…You…" Alicia 'hmph'-ed, and went to stomp out of the door, before being caught around the shoulders and neck by Katie and Angelina.

"We love you Alicia," Angelina grinned. Katie agreed with a smile and a squeeze of her arm. They walked, arm and arm, into the entrance hallway. Fred, George, and Lee following closely behind, talking about something mischievous.

None of the three said anything until they began to climb the staircase to Gryffindor Tower. "So d'ya think that you can get that play book, Kate?" Alicia asked in a considering voice.

"Piece of Cake, Alicia. Really." Katie answered easily.

There was a beat before all three girls broke into easy peals of laughter.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: **_Ha! Always wanted to write a brainy Alicia and a slutty Katie. And here it is, finally. Okay, this could go both ways as a one-shot or an actual story. Which one? I'm really torn up about it, as I already have a major on-going story To My Dear Friend Alicia (Soon to be series), but I really want to write this one to! Eaugh! I need some feedback! Full story, or friendship one-shot? REVIEW AND TELL ME! _


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, help me won't you?" Katie whined, holding her quill and parchment towards Angelina. "Please, Angelina? Look how bloody difficult it is!"

Angelina looked lazily up from the _Gladrags_ catalogue that she had been idly flipping through. "I don't remember anything from that class. Why did you take NEWT Arithmancy, anyway?" Lying on her stomach on her bed in the girls' dormitory, Angelina looked more at ease than she had all week. "Rune Translators don't need to take Arithmancy."

Katie sighed, and dropped her arms to her side as she rearranged herself on the floor. "I got an E on my OWL. So I figured that I might as well try for the NEWT class." She tried once again. "Oh, please? I want to go out with Roger tonight. This is the night that I'm going to get his playbook." Her eyes shone with an unreadable expression. "I can just tell."

Angelina leveled her gaze at her friend for a moment before dropping the catalogue. "Fine. I'll help you. But only because you need to be at tryouts tomorrow, and not doing homework."

Katie whooped, and flung herself onto the bed next to Angelina. Once again she resumed her cross-legged position. "See? Look. I plotted the numbers, but personality-wise it just doesn't make sense."

Angelina thought for a moment and pulled a quill from her bedside table. She scanned the parchment quickly, before drawing an 'X' through a line of work. "See? Right here. Four times one is not five. It's four." She looked over the numbers splayed on the paper, before beginning to fix Katie's work for her. "Who are you plotting, anyways?"

"The Weasleys." Katie answered easily, raising her arm to write but finding Angelina's hand in the way. She frowned. "Angelina, dear, could you possibly write with your other hand? This doesn't work when we're sitting next to each other."

Angelina raised an eyebrow at Katie. "I can only write with my left hand. I think you're confusing me with Lee."

Katie frowned, and brushed Angelina's arm away so that she could finish the calculations. "Lee can write with both hands? I could have sworn that it was you. Remember when you threw that amazing goal last year? That was with your right hand, wasn't it?"

Angelina squinted her eyes as she thought back. "It was with my right. But I can throw with both hands. As can both you and Alicia."

Katie barely had enough time to mutter an, 'oh yeah', before Angelina went on. "Lee's the ambidextrous one. He's only been working on it during History of Magic for about six years. The twins bet him that he could never do it, back at the beginning of second year."

Katie 'hmmm-ed', then looked at her final answer. Circled at the bottom of the page was a six and a three. "Let's see what New Theory of Numerology has to say about them." She pulled out a book and flipped to a dog-eared page.

"On Fred…," Katie searched the page, before putting a finger on a paragraph and snorting, "Oh, this is rich." She read aloud, "'The six represents harmony, family, and friendship. The natural six is loyal, reliable, loving and quite artistic. A six is not advised to go into business, as their kindness may be taken advantage of. They adapt quite easily to new surroundings, but are quite gossipy and vain.'"

"Well, he's loyal," Angelina put in with a grimace. "And quite self-important. You've gone and hit that on the nose, Kate."

"I told you that I'm quite good at this," Katie sniffed, with an eyeroll. "And now for the other one." She flipped back a page and once again read to Angelina. "'The three represents completeness and wholeness. The natural three is talented, energetic, and humorous, adapting to all social situations. Mostly highly successful, the three is easy-going and most agree that they are 'naturally lucky'. But threes tend to be materialistic, unfocused, and quite easily angered.'" A look of thought crossed her face. "I haven't gotten them mixed up, have I?" Katie looked back to her paper, then back down to the book. "Strange," she murmured.

"Arithmancy is just another fortune-telling technique, anyway. Like palm-reading." Angelina rolled her eyes at the book. "Were you there when Alicia tried to read my palm? Of course not. Anyway, both of my life-lines were short, and she said that I only had about a year to live. That was a God-awful experience. Then Trelawny came over and read my palm the exact same way. After that I wasn't worried at all, that toad is always--"

She was cut off by Katie. "But Angelina, listen to this. It's ever so strange. You see, in the case of twins, you add the numbers together. If they're two-digits, then you keep adding them. But it's no matter here. Added together, the twins' number is nine!"

Angelina gave her a blank look and Katie's jaw dropped. "You have to remember! You took Arithmancy for a few years. Nine is the perfect number! Three times three! Listen," And once again, Katie turned to the book. "The nine represents achievement and completion to the fullest degree. The natural nine is a hard-worker and an inspiration to others. The nine can also be arrogant when things don't go their way."

"That is strange," Angelina agreed with yet anothereye roll. "But you did listen to my story about the palm-reading, right? That it's not precise?"

Katie gave her a blank look. "What are you talking about? When were you palm-reading? I thought that you hated Trelawny."

"She does", came a voice from the door. Katie and Angelina looked up.

"Alicia, lucky you're done in the bath," Angelina said dryly. "I was just about to throttle Bell within an inch of her life."

Alicia stepped in front of the floor-length mirror and studied herself. "Oh, don't do that. Then you would have to find a new Chaser tomorrow as well as a Keeper. And then we would _both_ have to train them. And that would just be a pain."

Angelina 'harumph-ed', and went to stand behind Alicia. "You look fine. Great. Fantastic. I don't know why you're so worried--" She paused, before crossing her arms. "Nice shirt." She scowled. "What's so wrong with your own things, anyway?"

Before Alicia could answer, Katie hopped up to join them. "Oh, Angelina, what is so wrong with Alicia borrowing your shirt? I mean, I have never seen you in this shirt. In fact, I don't think that you would ever wear this shirt, anyway. It's too lacy." She studied Alicia's hair in the mirror before winding a bit around her finger. She let go, and it went back to its previous stark-straight state. Katie frowned and attempted it again, to no avail. "Well, waves around your face would have been adorable." Something caught her eye, and Katie brushed back Alica's hair. Her lips set into a straight line.

"Nice earrings." She ground out, folding her arms. "They look extremely similar to the ones that a Ravenclaw named Mark gave me last year."

Alicia thought back. "Wasn't he the one with the extremely long ponytail?"

Katie frowned and put her hands on her hips. "Only before I told him to cut his hair. You two cannot keep holding that one against me!"

Angelina hooted and slapped a knee. "Ah, karma. Love it."

Alicia sighed, and turned once in front of the mirror. "Sorry, girls. I just want to look really nice tonight. Stephen and I are sneaking off campus again." She looked unhappily at herself in the mirror. "These pants make my ass look big."

Angelina groaned and slapped her forehead.

Katie ignored her and put an arm around Alicia. "You look gorgeous, dear. Your ass looks perfect. As to wearing my earrings, I'll even give my consent." She patted her troubled friend on the shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Just try not to be so hungover tomorrow morning, won't you? We have tryouts at two, and I daresay that Angelina will have the lot of us on the pitch at noon. I'm not dragging you out of bed."

Alicia bit her lip, and pulled away from Katie. "Okay then", she said with resignation. Spinning once again in front of the mirror, she pulled a robe from off of her bed. "Here goes nothing. Wish me luck girls."

"Wishing you good luck," Angelina told her grudgingly, while Katie blew her a kiss.

"Don't do anything that I wouldn't do." She called after Alicia.

"Which doesn't leave too much, does it?" Angelina muttered, as Katie leaned forward and examined her face in the mirror.

"That it doesn't!" Katie cheerfully answered. Backing up and rolling her school skirt up, she nodded in approval. "I have someone to meet. Thanks for the Arithmancy help. Talk to you later, yeah?" Without waiting for an answer, she threw a wink towards Angelina and strode from the room.

"I expect to see that bloody playbook, with all of the trouble that you've been giving me!" Angelina called after her. Tossing her braids over her shoulder, she hung her thumbs from the pockets of her favorite worn-out jeans. Without a second glance toward the mirror, she headed toward the common room with the express purpose of seeing with the twins and Lee were up to. And quite possibly joining in.

**Author's Note:** _I have,_ _quite obviously, decided to try and keep going with this fic. Only don't send me hate-mail and death threats if I don't update it way often, lol. Thanks for the reviews! Next chapter I'll respond. _

**Note on the Title: **_Yeah, about the title... Anyways, when Angelina, Alicia, and Katie are pretty much first introduced together as a team in CoS, it was when the Gryffindor team stood against the Slytherin team. And it went something like this (don't hold me to it, because I'm just going from memory.), _

"There were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood shoulder to shoulder, leering to a man."

_That's the gist of it anyways, I'll check it later. But I never quite figured out what it meant. I mean, I got that there weren't any girls on the Slytherin team, and that all of the guys stood shoulder to shoulder. But what, exactly, is_ 'leering to a man'_suppoused to mean? That they were intimidating? That it must have been really bad for the girls? Leering means to look at witha 'lascivious, knowing, or wanton look'. And what exactly does that have to do with the fact that there were no girls on the Slytherin team?_

_At any rate, it has always been a bit of an enigma for me. I've always figured that it had something to do with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie, so whenever I think of that line, I think of them. It is the title of this fic, because it shows thecrap that the girls had to put up with, as they were (once again) a group of girls in a male-dominated sport and how they had to fight for position in the Quidditch world. It sounds way deeper and more complicated than it actually is, lmao._


	3. Chapter 3

"I got it!" was the call that rang through the Common Room. It was midnight, and the Common Room was nearly deserted except for a small group of four people. They looked up at the call.

"I told you that I would get the bloody playbook, didn't I? I told you, Mr. Jordan!" Before Lee could even move, Katie had shoved the weakly bound edition in his face and a sharp shout of laughter had been yelled into his ear.

The twins guffawed loudly, and Fred dropped an exploding snap card onto the ground. There was a puff of smoke that temporarily changed the laughing to choking, and then they were both back to their usual smirks.

"Good show, Katie," Angelina smiled and took the book into her own hands. "Where was it?" She idly flipped through it and a twin looked over her shoulder with interest.

Katie sneered and smoothed her skirt. "It was his bed. The bloody oaf is a Ravenclaw and he couldn't even find a cleverer place to put it." She flounced onto the couch. "I mean, really. Anyone could have just snuck up there and nicked it."

Angelina snorted. "Or that someone may have just been invited."

Katie's brow furrowed in thought and she nodded. "That someone _may_ have just been invited."

Lee, fuming over the playbook incident, turned to her from his place on the ground. Nodding to her messy hair, he snarled, "Nice bed-head, kiddo."

Katie sighed and fingered the ends of her hair, finally allowing herself to run her entire hand through in order to try and straighten it. "Shows how much you know." She told him coolly. "It's only messed up in the back. It's wall-hair, actually."

Lee's jaw dropped and he searched for words. He just settled for stumbling over an explicit curse. Angelina didn't seem fazed and just shook her head with a small smile, placing the playbook aside.

Katie smiled sweetly in response and leaned her head onto the shoulder of the nearest twin. "What's the game, Fred?" she asked him, as Angelina mechanically added her to their game.

"It's George," The twin answered automatically, picking up his own cards. "And the game is regular, old, exploding snap."

Katie frowned at her hand. "I think that I may just sit this one out."

Fred pointed a finger at her, his own cards nearly falling out of his hand. "You know the rules, Bell. The ones that we formed for you specifically." Katie sighed before Fred could finish. But he went on anyway and ignored her. "Once you take the hand, you can_not_ flake out."

Katie sighed and looked up to Lee for help. He just frowned and sorted through his cards. "You heard the man."

George threw a seven onto the table to start the game, but before anyone could respond to his move, someone shrieked. It was so loud and so high that it didn't seem human, and it broke in the middle in an eerie sort of way.

They all sat up stock straight. "You heard that, right?" George asked, looking at the faces of those sitting around the circle.

"Of course we heard it, Forge," Fred answered, his head swiveling around the room. It was plain where it had come from.

"The hallway outside The Fat Lady." Lee said what was on all of their minds.

Katie's eyes grew wide and she circled her arms about herself. "You don't think that it's--"

Angelina shushed her and held out her hand to pull Katie to her feet. "No. Of course not. It's probably just one of the portraits gotten drunk again. You know Violet and her chocolates." She drew her wand out of her pocket. "Either way, we should probably go see what it is."

Lee sprang onto his feet. "Always the adventure seeker, aren't you, Angelina?" He met Fred's glare with his own and held up his hands. "I was just calling it like I see it."

Angelina ignored him and had ventured forward, toward the Portrait Hole. Katie was right behind her and was patting her person in search of her wand. Finally, she fumbled across the right pocket in her robe and pulled it out.

"You might want to wait for us," a twin told the girls, as the both of them and Lee caught up Katie and Angelina.

"You know. In the case that it _is_ dangerous." The other twin finished.

Angelina rolled her eyes in her classic expression and Katie snorted, adding "I think that we could probably handle whatever it is. Slytherin _or_…You-Know-Who."

Before Katie had even finished her sentence, Angelina swung open the portrait hole and dropped onto the ground. Katie quickly following her, poised for a fight and looking around suspiciously.

There, against the wall to the Common Room, was a huddle of dark robes. The person gave a choking, stuttering sob every few seconds, with many snorts and sniffles in between. They all stood there with their wand arms dropped dejectedly down at their sides.

It was a moment before Lee finally said what all of them knew. "Alicia?" He asked, eyes wide and head bowed a bit.

The bundle gave a slow, heart-breaking sob. Katie and Angelina wasted no time in stowing their wands in their pockets and falling down to the ground next to Alicia. Angelina put her arms around her friend and Katie stroked her hair. Fred, George, and Lee all looked on with that pinched, overwhelmed look that men tend to get whenever girls start to cry.

"What happened, sweetie?" Katie asked, after Alicia's weeping had subsided a bit.

There was a pause and a sniffle before Alicia answered. "Ste—Ste—Stephen chu…Stephen chucked me!" When she finally managed to spit it out, her voice was shaky and uneven.

Angelina grimaced and Katie's mouth made an 'O' of surprise. It was only a second before they started immediately doting. "Oh, you poor thing." Katie told her.

"He was a jerk anyway." Angelina told her.

"I have some chocolate. C'mon. It's Honeyduke's Finest."

"You're better off without him."

"Eat some chocolate, wash your hair, snuggle into bed, and then you'll feel better."

"Bloody Stephen didn't even play quidditch, anyway."

Lee, Fred, and George, in the meanwhile, had backed up considerably. Fred's back was against The Fat Lady who woke up and loudly asked what they wanted. Lee hissed the password, and George swung the door open. It was all very practiced and precise.

On either side of Alicia, Katie and Angelina managed to more or less pick her up and steer her toward the portrait hole. It was harder to coax her into the Common Room, but once they got there, Alicia paused and blew her nose pitifully into the handkerchief that Angelina had handed her.

"What did I do wrong?" she wept into Katie's shoulder. "I was a really good girlfriend. I really was!" She froze and hazarded a glance at the twins and Lee, who had found seats on the scarlet furniture.

"Boys don't like when you forget anniversaries, do they?" Her voice was high pitched and panicked. "I bet I forgot one! I didn't get him a present, not even a chocolate bar!" Alicia curled her hands around the collar of her robe.

"Which one did I forget?" She screeched. Without warning, she began to count on her fingers. Her eyes looked pathetic and crazed, and she stood stock still.

Angelina watched her for a moment, alarmed, before finally announcing, "Okay Alicia. I think it's time for bed." With Alicia still counting on her fingers, she led her friend up the stairs with a small bit of difficulty.

Katie stayed behind and looked at the boys with solemn eyes. "I just wanted to let you know that she's not touched in the head." Nodding and blowing them a kiss, she took the steps two at a time.

As Katie fled out of sight, George exhaled heavily and Lee looked up the stairs in a horrified way. Fred looked at the both of them before clearing his throat and saying, "Mates, for what it's worth, Angelina and I don't keep track of anniversaries."


	4. Chapter 4

"I want to curl up and die," Alicia moaned with a sniffle, as she made small circles around the end of the pitch that they were using. Fred watched her closely from his broom. Drumming his fingers on the broom handle, he leaned close to George, who was watching Katie and Angelina talk to the Keeper hopefuls with rapt attention.

"Oi, George." Fred hissed, and George looked up. "Has it been two hours yet? You have the watch, man." There was impatience in his voice and a hint of sarcasm.

In reply, George stuck out his arm just long enough for Fred to catch a glimpse of the time. He glanced back at the small crowd of people, before turning back to Fred. "It's only been about thirty minutes. Don't complain, at least you didn't have to do your shift of suicide watch first thing in the morning."

Katie picked up the quaffle,tossed it from hand to hand and, in a spectacular show of strength, threw it heartily at the next person. The lanky youth managed to fly in front of the quaffle but his skill ended there. The ball hit him right underneath his rib cage and he slumped onto the handle of his broom.

Cupping a hand to his mouth, George called out to him "Walk it off, Manly. Walk it off." before sharing a chuckle with Fred at the boy's expense. Katie gave a loud and exasperated sigh. Fred was unclear as to whether the sigh was directed toward Manly, or the sniveling Alicia.

"Where is the talent I was promised?" Angelina screeched her position near Katie. Ron was the only person who had intercepted anything so far, besides Evan who flew an excellent trial. However, he was quite the whiner and had to be assured that games would never be called off due to the weather. Fred cringed in response, but Alicia's only reaction was to sob harder, and then to take a sharp breath and begin to talk in a rather reserved tone for her current situation. Tears were still coursing down her cheeks.

"Angelina, maybe they're just having bad days. Maybe their quidditch teams just chucked them off the handle of their brooms like they were nothing. Maybe their captains just woke up one day, and decided that they weren't good enough. Seniority just went out the window. Maybe he just had an epiphany and decided that the past year hadn't meant a thing to him, even if she was a little afraid at first to sneak off campus, it didn't matter. Nope. Because he was just a cold, heartless bastard who made a lousy captain. But even if he is a lousy captain, they still want to be on the team because it's safe and they know what to do. Maybe they're just lonely, and sad, and scared."

Throughout her ramble, Alicia's cheeks had begun to turn red. Her tone became wilder and wilder, and she spoke with more abandon. Finished, she began to weep even more loudly than before, this time accompanied with loud, unladylike hiccups.

Fred looked at her with unease, his mouth falling open, and then he glanced to George for help. All George did was shrug, and incline his head in Katie's direction. Her upper lip was curled up in disgust. Straightening her face, she did a quick loop to pat Alicia on the back before joining Angelina on the scoring line.

Scrambling for something to say, Fred followed Katie's lead, patting Alicia on the back before adding, in a quite convincing voice, he was sure: "Er. That sounds possible. Sounds like something that Oliver would do, prat that he is."

"Too right." George added. Using the tips of his fingers, he prodded the sobbing Alicia toward midfield so that he and Fred could discern what was happening. Not that Fred looked as if he cared much. He was wistfully watching Lee as he lounged, spread-eagled, in the bleachers along the Gryffindor side of the field. Lee had his dreadlocked head bent low over a radio that was set on a national Quidditch game, no doubt.

Manly hadn't even been led off of the field before Angelina called out "Frobisher, Vicky?" in a slightly agitated voice. A tall girl with dark brown hair took the hoops.

"I believe that I'm the talent that you've been looking for." Vicky announced confidently, sticking out her chest and pursing her lips. Angelina's jaw dropped and she looked upward.

"If this is who we resort to putting on our team…" She mumbled to Katie's bark of laughter. Angelina peered sideways to her friend, who mouthed 'She's a harlot', and looked down as she snickered. Not really because Vicky was a harlot, but because it was Katie who was saying so.

"All right, then," Angelina said, and exchanged the clipboard for the quaffle. Katie tossed the clipboard to a bored looking Fred. Sighting the hoops down the field, Angelina shot forward on her broom and Katie followed at a parallel angle. Angelina ducked down, pulled even with Katie, and faked passing her the quaffle. Quickly stopping in a slide, Angelina lobbed the ball toward the farthest hoop. It was neatly caught by Vicky, who had, the entire time, been watching them with her even gaze and staying perfectly in the middle of the scoring area.

Angelina's eyebrows shot up and she looked at Katie, who was pouting, her eyes narrowed toward the girl. Vicky put a hand on her hip and jutted her head to the side. "Do you girls want the quaffle back?" she asked sweetly.

"Give it here," Katie grunted, and received the quaffle gracefully, immediately going into a charge. There were several more shots like this, and all of then ended up in the hands of Vicky.

"That's enough!" Angelina called after the basic repertoire of shots, and beckoned for Vicky to come to her and the rest of the team. "You're good," Angelina told her, ignoring Katie's deep frown, Alicia's quiet sniffles, and the twins' disconcerting silence. "Do you have any other commitments that we would have to work around? Clubs and such?"

To say that Vicky was involved was an understatement. As she listed her clubs, Angelina's eyes grew and she stopped writing on her clipboard, recently received from Fred. Instead, she watched the pretty girl explain what she did, and wondered how she was going to have time for quidditch after all of this.

Vicky's list ended with, "However, I absolutely cannot miss Charms Club. If there's a conflict, I'd pick Charms Club any day."

Angelina took a deep breath. "I don't know why you even bothered to waste our time then. Quidditch is a priority for everyone here, we can't have a less than dedicated player on our team. You're dismissed."

"Don't you dismiss me," Vicky hissed, with all the venom of a veela. Her transformation had been as quick as one. In seconds her expression had darkened and she had glared at Katie. It occurred to Angelina that Vicky and Katie may have had a conflict in the past. "Who do you think you are?"

Angelina drew herself up on her broomstick and glared daggers at the girl. "Well, it's my pitch until noon, isn't it?" Alicia's crying stopped, and she looked to Vicky. Fred and George had landed near Lee and were whispering to each other. Fred was drawing a map in the air with his fingers. George was nodding vehemently.

"Why you--" Vicky started, but never got the chance to finish.

"What are you still doing here?" Katie snarled and a finger rose to point the way back to the castle. "You heard the captain. Get off the bleedin' field."

The people who had tried out in the past couple of hours squinted into the sky at the girls hovering above them on their brooms. A few leaned closer, as if that could aid them in hearing the chasers who were at least thirty feet above the ground.

Vicky's mouth set in a line. "Fine." Her voice came out rough, and Alicia jumped. A sickly sweet smile came over her mouth and she leaned closer to Katie. "But can I just tell you something about your friend here?" Vicky gestured to Alicia. "You know why Stephen chucked her? He found someone new. Someone that he liked much better. And he wanted to go after her." Alicia gasped, and her eyes seemed even more red-rimmed. Katie pulled away from Vicky, a deep look of loathing on her face.

"It's true," Vicky sneered. "And you'd be surprised, Alicia. Truly surprised." With one last superior glance back, Vicky dove downward. None of the three said anything as they watched her gather her bag and leave. It wasn't until she had left the pitch that Alicia broke out into a new sobbing fit.

"Oh, it's okay," Katie cooed, putting her arm around her friend and leading her off the field on her broom. "She's just a harlot. What does she know, anyway? I bet she doesn't even know Stephen, just heard that awful rumor through the mill, you know. C'mon dearie, tryouts are over, and I think I have a chocolate frog that I can give you to make you feel much, much better."

Angelina looked at her watch and sighed in relief. It was 12:05. About time for Hufflepuff to take the field from her. Frankly, she couldn't have been happier about the timing. She could not have handled one more awful trial.

Walking over to the people who had tried out, Angelina made a quick speech about the value of teamwork, dedication, and the ability to thump heads, before ending it abruptly. "You've all done excellently, and we'll announce our new keeper tonight. Remember, as we're Gryffindors, we party quite hard and even if you're not chosen, pick up a goblet of butterbeer and join in on the festivities. Don't forget that next year, our team will be down quite a few players, so try out again!"

She stood and watched as the keeper hopefuls all headed for the castle. It was then that Fred and George decided to amble over.

"Where are our other girlies, then?" George asked, broom slung over his shoulder.

"In our dorm, eating chocolate," Angelina answered bitterly, angry that Alicia hadn't told Vicky where to go. A week ago she would have done this without thinking.

The twins looked at each other, and Fred threw his arm around Angelina's shoulders. "So, have we decided on a new keeper, then?"

"I've decided it's going to be Ron, none of the rest of you helped much." Angelina told them.

"What?" Fred sputtered.

"Why?" George asked.

"What happened to that girl? The last one? She had a good trial." Fred pointed out, squinting to make out the hopefuls who were still trudging up the hill. "Ickle Ronnikins is…well…He couldn't possibly be as good as her."

Angelina shrugged Fred's arm off of her shoulders and sped up her pace. "Never mind that." With her arms around her broom and with no reason other than annoyance, Angelina put as much distance between herself and the twins as she could manage without sprinting. She didn't want to be the one to explain that she would rather risk the cup than risk the friendship of Alicia and Katie. She was sure that neither of the twins would understand their bond, and even if they could, she wasn't sure that sure that she could explain the complexity of it.

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: I found out what "leering to a man" means! It means that all of the members of the Slytherin team were leering at the Chasers. Enigma no more!_

_Also, how does everyone think that the POV in this chapter flows? I know that it jumps a _ton _but since the beginning of this fic I've tried to create a limited omnipresent POV. In this chapter, it's just way more evident because I couldn't do without some of the character thoughts._

_One more thing. Yes, I know that the roles of Fred and George are rather limited in this fic so far and that they're not being their usual cocky, explosive selves. Leering to a Man is a story about the friendship of the chasers and I'm trying to highlight that since most stories tend to have the personalities of the chasers overshadowed by the exuberant twins. Plus, over the years I'm certain that they would have gotten used to the twins and would have gotten rather good at just ignoring their antics _( :) ) _But don't fret! The twins will play a much larger role later on in the fic._


End file.
